Hockey Night in Yellow Grass may be over, with the Anaheim Ducks winning the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night, but the community support for native son, Peter Schaefer and his team the Ottawa Senators still remains in the hearts of the community.

"We thought Peter played very well, he made us proud," said Danna Grassick, who along with Erin Westling organized a 'Hockey-Night in Yellow Grass' event each evening of the Stanley Cup finals. The events were held to raise funds for the Communiplex, with the game shown on the big-screen TV and food and refreshments provided to the hockey fans.

Grassick said that the community raised an estimated $1,500 towards the Communiplex from this event. "It was something we wanted to do to bring the community together. It worked, as community spirit was very good, everyone was eager to come out and show their support."

"I thought that the events were excellent," said Peter's dad, Pete Sr. "Though it was slow the first night, due to our community having a lot of farmers, we ran into some hockey watching weather and the place was packed every other night."

"Those girls were unbelievable, they made the event into a phenomenal thing and went out of their way to make it a family thing." Schaefer Sr. added, "Words just can't express the gratitude our family feels from their efforts."

"I can't say enough about what those girls did," said Tracy Schaefer, Peter's mom. "The event grew with each game, they deserve a whole lot of credit for bringing the community together."

"I was quite impressed with the effort of the organizers," said Joanne Hennie, Peter's grandmother. "Every night there were more and more people showing up. I have heard from many residents how much fun they had, and how the Yellow Grass community really went all out."

Pete Sr., Tracy and Joanne also got to see another side of the fan base, as all three attended games three and four in Ottawa and then Tracy and Joanne went to California to see game five. "It was the first time I have really seen the rink in Ottawa really rocking, the whole place was unbelievable," said Pete Sr.

Schaefer Sr. said that he "thought that Peter played very well, he played hard and as a team player. I am really proud of him, especially about the person he has grown up to be; he worked really hard to get to that level of competition."

"We were home for the first two games, so we really saw the whole fan experience. From the fans in Yellow Grass, to the fans in Ottawa and then to the fans in California." Tracy said that the whole range of support was unbelievable.

"We had thought that the fans were loud in Ottawa, but they just got louder in Anaheim," said Hennie. " It was an once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, because I have never been to California before. Anaheim was a beautiful city with a lot of different foliage than you would see in Saskatchewan."

"I was really happy with the fact that there were Saskatchewan boys on each side of the teams in the playoffs," said Hennie. "That way, Saskatchewan shared in the win, no matter who won or lost."

"I was glad to be there to support Peter during that loss," said Tracy, referring to the final game. "It is easy to be at the game when your team wins, but it means a lot more to be there for them when they take a big loss."

"The loss of the game seemed inconsequential to us, because as we waited to board the plane to return to Ottawa we saw another plane unloading a coffin, draped with the American flag." Tracy said that "knowing that another young soldier had lost his life really hit home for us, and suddenly we were just glad to have Peter safe and alive."

During the playoffs, Peter Schaefer Jr. played in 20 games with the Ottawa Senators, scoring one goal and notching five assists. He played in all five games of the Stanley Cup, assisting on two goals during his time on ice.